Well, since I've been emailing out pieces of this news to everyone I thought would be interested (my poor, much email beleaguered/spammed HHOF Presents instructors included), I figured I should post it here as well! This came from today's Metro mini-article "Leafs, veterans making progress":
The agent for Gary Roberts and Joe Nieuwendyk spoke with Maple Leafs general manager John Ferguson Sunday and yesterday and remains confident that a deal can be worked out before both players become unrestricted free agents Thursday.
"I'd like to think we've been making some progress," Rick Curran said. "We'll have to wait and see, I guess."
In what might come as a minor surprise, Curran is also negotiating with Ferguson for veteran defenceman Bryan Marchment. He is just as confident that Marchment will also be signed.
"They definitely want him back," Curran said. "(Ferguson) told me from Day 1 that he wants him back."
If Marchment does come back to Toronto, it will be at an enormously reduced price on the $2 million he earned last season. Because there will be about 20 unrestricted defencemen on the market, Marchment will likely have to settle for well under $1 million to come back to Toronto.
Ferguson seems intent on getting his defense corps in order and is apparently working to get TOMAS KABERLE [emphasis added] signed to a deal. Kaberle made $2.85 million US last season and didn't have a particularly good year, but he'll have to receive a qualifying offer that at least matches his salary from a year ago.
Roberts and Nieuwendyk appear to be the top priorities for the Leafs because they'd be most likely to get offers from other teams if they went on the open market.
There have been reports that the Florida Panthers will make a pitch for one or both players if the Leafs allow them to become free agents, but an NHL source told the Toronto Star that isn't likely to happen.
Woohoo!! This is good news indeed! With Kaberle's regression this season, I was afraid the team wouldn't even bother with a qualifying offer and just let him go into free agency--especially since Quinn's no longer GM! So I'm immensely relieved to hear that Ferguson apparently understands Kaberle's value.
You know, at first I didn't really like Ferguson because of the way he handled Gilmour (Dougie deserved an ACC press conference, at the very least), but since his deals for Leetch and Francis, and now his moves to resign key players, I'm finding myself liking and respecting him a lot more!
[Edit: I thought I should mention that I posted on Loquacious Silence about some of my interactions with Kevin and Phil (my HHOF Presents instructors), in case anyone's interested.]
Just wanted to say a quick congrats to Mr. Ken Dryden, MP!!! ^_^ He won for the Liberal party in the York Centre riding by a considerable margin--more than double the votes of his nearest competitor! Damien Cox called him "an active conscience within the [Maple Leafs] team", and I'm sure that he will perform his duties as MP with as much integrity and compassion as he demonstrated in his handling of the Gardens sex abuse scandal. Ah, I'm not being very clear here, I suppose, but I have an enormous respect for Mr. Dryden, and I have full confidence that he will live up to the faith and trust given to him by his riding.
Well, Ottawa's been quite an active team--dumping salary to make room for Hasek. They moved Bonk to the Habs, and Lalime to the Blues. Well, actually, they moved Bonk to the Kings, who then shipped him off to Montreal. Good for Montreal, I say! Not that I'm a huge Bonk fan after my first year hockey pool experience with him (he was injured and useless, then I traded him and he started to perform again), but I'm not much of an Ottawa fan, so I hope that he does really well there, just to spite them. =P
As for Lalime, well, I think Muckler put it very diplomatically and honestly:
"We owed it to Patrick," Muckler said. "He's a character guy and a loyal soldier, and I think he did a very good job for the organization. There was a lot of pressure of Patrick because we lost to Toronto last season. I don't think a lot of that criticism should have been put on his shoulders but I thought he played very well for us.
"And going to St. Louis I think is a good thing for him because he gets a fresh start."
In Ottawa Lalime simply couldn't get past the reputation as a goalie who choked in the playoffs (against the Leafs in particular) so I completely agree that he needed a fresh start. And St. Louis probably is blessing their lucky stars that they got him, since they needed a goaltender, and they really didn't have much choice in the free agent market.
Onto the draft! Well, it really wasn't very surprising at all. Alexander Ovechkin first, Evgeny Malkin second, and Cam Barker third. Maybe the only real surprise was that the Coyotes picked Blake Wheeler fifth. Apparently he was ranked 17th by scouts, and some even thought he could go as low as the second round. Another surprise, albeit a minor one, was that Wojtek Wolski (VOY-teck Vohl-skee)--I'm going to have to practice that one!--was drafted as late as he was, 21st overall by the Avs. Scouts had pegged him for around 10th, but his recent assault charge explained the reluctance to pick him.
Speaking of the Avs, I didn't even realize that they had three picks within the first 72! How exciting! After Wolski, they picked Victor Oreskovich (55th overall) and Denis Parshin (72nd overall). I will try to pay more attention to Colorado's farm teams and their prospect development this year (how could I call myself a fan otherwise?), so hopefully I will eventually see these guys on the regular lineup!
The Leafs, well, I wasn't actually so much interested in their first pick (Justin Pogge, 90th overall) as their seventh round pick (Maxim Semenov, 220th overall). Why? Because the players that I've liked have generally been their two hundred something-th overall pick! For example: Tomas Kaberle (204th overall in 1996), Nathan Dempsey (245th overall in 1992), Pierre Hedin (239th overall in 1999), and Jarko Immonen (254th overall in 2002). Besides, they say the mark of a successful team is its ability to draft well late, I mean, Aebischer was drafted 161st overall in 1997, and Liles was picked up 159th overall in 2000. So for the Avs, I'd say the late 100s seem to be pretty good choices.
Anyway, time to sleep! I don't want to be struggling to stay awake in class again this week! ^^;; That was the worst feeling ever!
On the one hand I believe that the justice system needed to press charges because a person's status in society, and even his/her remorse shouldn't exempt them from facing the consequences of their actions. And I rather think that Bettman had it right when he said that the fact that charges are being pressed shows that such actions do not have a place in professional hockey.
But... In the years since I started watching hockey I've come to admire and like Bertuzzi, and because of those feelings I rather wish he could've been spared all this. Not to mention, the fact that I believe that he's sincerely remorseful and that he's suffering for his actions, so I guess I'm kind of feeling that his own guilt/remorse, not to mention the suspension have served as punishment enough. *sigh* I know that such thinking isn't really logical, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't feel the same way if it was anyone other than a hockey player, but there you have it. Another part of me wishes that B.C. had decided not to press charges because the trial/hearing is going to bring more smears to hockey's image.
. . .
Now I don't want to sound like I'm being cavalier about the issue by switching the subject, but in other news, the Avs have made Forsberg a qualifying offer, so I'm crossing my fingers that he'll stick with them for one more year at least! Oh, and Kariya might be interested in returning to Colorado, according to his agent, so I think that could be a good thing, if he stays healthy.
Well, according to one of the guests for our class tonight, Stevie Y will NOT be playing for Team Canada at the World Cup! =( I don't know why, but my guess would be health? Ah well, it's better not to speculate, and to just wait until we know for sure.
Still, that's quite a sad thing for me. I mean, I was looking forward to seeing him in the Team Canada jersey again! I suppose the bright side of this would be that Sakic will get his #19 back, and a young'un will get a chance to shine. *sigh* But I really wanted to watch Yzerman play on a team that I could actually cheer for!
Cool news for all you Toronto area people! On Wednesday July 7th, 2004, the Hockey Hall of Fame will be opening a new exhibit called "The Stanley Cup Odyssey." Actually, it's not really an exhibit, it's a film that will be playing in the Hartland Molson Theatre at the Hall.
Anyway, July 7th is going to really a cool day at the Hall! They're going to have guests from the Tampa Bay Lightning, Mike Bossy, Bill Barber and others around for "fan forums", photo opportunities and door prizes and stuff!
They haven't posted a schedule for the different guests yet, but if you're interested, keep checking back at Exhibit News on the HHOF website for more info! Also, I have a pdf flyer with a family coupon (valid until Sept. 6th) for admission for 2 adults, 2 youth, plus a Stanley Cup photo for $32 ($50.00 value). You can download the flyer from my site here.
^_^ Mucho thanks to Kevin Shea for passing the info along! (Actually, he asked me to post it to the HHOF Presents Yahoo group, but I figured he wouldn't object to a little more advertising!)
If you're in the area, I'd definitely make it a point to check it out! Heck, even if you're not in the area, make plans to come! I've already asked for the day off and have invited a couple of friends as well!! It's an excellent way to "pass the time in the summer w/out hockey"! ^_~
Unfortunately neither of them is Kaberle, but nonetheless I'm very pleased with the news that the Avs have signed Konowalchuk to a three-year deal, and the Leafs have gotten Klee signed for another two years. ^_^
Konowalchuk was an excellent addition to the Avs this year. He's an excellent defensive player, and he also surprised me with his productivity. I'm sure his leadership qualities were also very valuable in the dressing room, especially with all the injuries the Avs had to deal with throughout the season.
Klee of course is a steady defenceman, and an excellent partner for Kaberle. Kaberle had some of his worst moments this season when he was paired with Berg in Klee's absence! Okay, so you can tell I don't really have much of an impression of Klee on his own--i.e., I tend to think of him in terms of being Kaberle's defense partner--but at any rate, I'm glad the Leafs are keeping him! Now if only they would announce a deal with Kaberle, I could rest easy!
Hockey news isn't exactly thick on the ground nowadays, but nonetheless I was intrigued by this headline from TSN.ca: "Jackets aquire Irbe from Hurricanes."
Good for him! I hope this means that he'll get a shot a more playing time (I may like Irbe, but I'm not naive enough to think that he'll be given the starting position) and do well with a fresh start. Best of luck with Columbus, Irbe! ^_^
*ahem* Go read the Stanley Cup Journals!!! Kevin Shea (the main instructor in my HHOF Presents course) updates it every Monday, Wednesday and Friday throughout the summer, and it's pretty darn cool. ^_^ But onto my subject line!
Well, I was talking with Kevin during the rather longer than usual car ride up to Seneca--last week we didn't really talk that much because I was still feeling too shy/awkward to say anything--and I discovered that his favourite Leaf player is...wait for it...KABERLE!!!!! Oh my goodness! I was so excited! If I had any reserve left, it was gone that instant! I mean, here's a guy who knows his hockey, works at the HHOF, teaches a hockey course and everything, and his favourite Leaf is not Sundin or Mogilny or Roberts or Domi, but Kaberle!!! Of course I was ecstatic!! ^_^ It's so awesome. Nerdy or not, I'm going to bring my Kaberle collection in with me next week to show him. =P
Anyway, it's getting late, so I guess I'm going to have to put off anymore writing here. Actually, I'm probably going to post more on my HHOF Presents site blog about what we discussed in class this week, so you might want to check that out. *shameless self promotion* Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell, who just also happens to be the president of the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL was our guest today, and boy did I ever learn a lot about the state of women's hockey in Canada. And a lot of it was downright shocking, in the bad sense. So yes, when I get a chance to collect my thoughts, I'm definitely going to be writing up about that.
Well, that was the speculation I heard on 680 this morning. TSN also had an article about it.
*shrugs* Whatever, I don't think he's that great anyway. I say Ottawa deserves him. It's mean of me I guess, but the way I'm looking at it, it'll make it even more fun to heckle/boo Ottawa. I like Czech players in general (thank to the Kaberles and Hejduk), but for some reason I just don't like Hasek. But this is old news.
*sigh* I wish there was more exciting news than this--like the Leafs locking up Kaberle!! =P
[Edit: I miss hockey already! Thank goodness for my HHOF Presents class!]
A very good season for Tampa, division, conference, and Stanley Cup champions and a whole bunch of individual awards as well:
Art Ross Trophy: Martin St. Louis
Conn Smythe Trophy: Brad Richards
Lester B. Pearson Award: Martin St. Louis
Jack Adams Award: John Tortorella
Lady Byng Trophy: Brad Richards
Hart Trophy: Martin St. Louis
Good on them! It's nice to see a good young team succeed! ^_^
Other award winners were (vaguely in the order they were presented, I think):
Calder Memorial Trophy: Andrew Raycroft
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: Bryan Berard
William M. Jennings Trophy: Martin Brodeur
Maurice Richard Trophy: Ilya Kovalchuk, Rick Nash, Jarome Iginla
Frank J. Selke Trophy: Kris Draper
King Clancy Memorial Trophy: Jarome Iginla
Vezina Trophy: Martin Brodeur
James Norris Trophy: Scott Niedermayer
The only award I was really disappointed about the winner was the Vezina, because, as you probably all know by now, I thought Luongo totally deserved it. But anyway, I know he's got lots of time, and I'm positive he's going to get it sooner rather than later! Go Louie!! ^_^
Of course, I would've loved for Sakic to get the Pearson because he carried the Avs when they were injured and totally sucky, but St. Louis deserved (as would have Luongo) as well, so I didn't really mind that.
*sigh* Anyway, hockey's done until the World Cup in August, but I'm still going to be posting here about whatever hockey news I can find, as well as on my HHOF Presents class, so don't be a stranger!
I got this email from Kevin (Shea) at 12:24pm today: "Martin St. Louis was just awarded the Lester B. Pearson Award as most valuable player selected by the players themselves." Now that doesn't sound all that exciting, except that I checked on CBc.ca, and they didn't have the news posted until 12:54pm! Of course, they update the time whenever they add or change anything to the article or whatever, so maybe 12:54 was just the time of an update and not the initial post, but I thought it was pretty cool of Kevin to email me just to let me know. ^_^
Speaking of Kevin, I've got to say that he's a really great guy, and I wish I could be like him "when I grow up." He's kind, generous, considerate and chivalrous. I mean, I'm sure I've been a bit irritating with all of my emails--I'm paranoid about getting permission and asking opinions for things related to my HHOF Presents site and Yahoo group, so everytime I think of something, I dash off an email to ask about it, and I usually add some random comments, which makes it longer, too--but even though I'm sure he's really busy with his HHOF work and his writing, he always answers quite promptly, and without seeming to mind my spamming.
And I don't think I know any other teacher who would think to offer a student a ride to class upon finding out that she works nearby and usually takes the transit down. Plus, knowing that my project is on the Canucks, and that I consider them my third favourite team, he gave me a copy of the "Greatest Moments in Vancouver Canucks Hockey History" book. As simple a gesture as it was, it was also (to me, at least) amazingly generous. It's not just me, either. In the second week of class, he brought a HHOF shirt to give to the first person to volunteer an answer, and last week he gave out a HHOF Legends Program, HHOF passes, and a disposable camera to a classmate who had volunteered to model hockey equipment from Bauer Nike the week before.
Then last week, when everyone was antsy to get home to watch game seven, he cut out his lecture and went straight to the guests so we could all go home earlier! So yes, I'd love to be a person of as much kindness, generosity and consideration--actually, not just "when I grow up", but now! The chivalry part, well, I'd try that too if I didn't think it would sit funny on a girl. =P It's probably going to take me some getting used to, but he always insists on holding doors for me and such when we're going up to the offices at the HHOF, entering Seneca, etc. Then again, generally I'm the one who likes to hold doors open for people, so maybe I've got a bit of chivalry in me too? ^_~
Anyway, I think the aspect in which I wish I could be like him "when I grow up" is his profession/job. He writes hockey books and works for the Hockey Hall of Fame!!! How cool is that? On the one hand I love the idea of teaching and reaching out to high school students through that, but on the other, I'd love to be able to have one of my passions as the centre of my job! Hmm...Or maybe the ultimate goal would be to be able to teach a hockey class like the HHOF Presents! That way I could have the best of both worlds, teaching and hockey. ^_^ Ah, the dreams...
So anyway, congrats to St. Louis on winning the Lester B. Pearson award, and good luck to everyone who's up for awards tonight!
[Edit: An estimated 20,000 people were on the parade route, and 13,000 in the forum for the Tampa Bay parade, for a total of 33,000, but how cool is it that about 30,000 people showed up for the Calgary Flames' rally, when they didn't even win the Cup! Can you imagine how many more people would've been joining the celebrations in Calgary had they won? Canadians, especially Calgarians rock! Now let's just see them keep supporting the team through ticket, especially season ticket, sales next year!]
Strangely enough, I have no problem skipping out on a wedding dance to watch game six of the Stanley Cup final, but I won't leave class early to watch game SEVEN of the Stanley Cup final. ^^;; I guess it has to do with the fact that I paid for the class myself (meanwhile my parents paid for my stay at the Lodge for the wedding), and the fact that I enjoy being in a hockey class more than being at a dance (I don't really dance, if you didn't know). *shrugs* One of my little quirks.
Anyway, my brother has been the greatest brother in the world for these past two games. He text messaged Jeff the score for me during the wedding, and he message me the score for the game while I was in class. Isn't he a great brother?
Actually, it was kind of funny because our guests were talking when I got the first update, but I refrained from making any sound, and simply made a face and showed the message to my classmate Mark, who's a huge Calgary fan. I wonder if the guests noticed us making disappointed/sad/upset faces and could figure out the reason. Around the end of the period other people got updates, and they weren't nearly as discreet. =P Oh, and my reception curse continued at Seneca. For some reason I could get CBC perfectly fine outside in the hallway, but in the classroom, all I could get was this stupid sitcom. And the walkman didn't work at all. So yes, thank goodness for Nathan!
What to say about the game? Well, I was glad I got to watch the third period, because it was really action-packed and exciting. It's tough for the Flames, of course, but hopefully they can at least hold their heads high knowing that they pushed the Lightning right to the very end. They've got so much heart and such good young talents, I think they're going to be a force to contend with in the years to come.
Even though I wanted Calgary to win, I was still quite pleased to see Tampa win, if that makes any sense. I mean, here's a team that just worked its butt off the entire year and all through the playoffs, and they have so many great stories, like St. Louis, who everyone thought was too small to play, and Fedotenko who everyone thought Tampa made a ridiculous trade for, and of course, Andreychuk's first Stanley Cup after 22 years in the NHL. It was just so nice to see--unlike last year with the Devils when I was just like: "ugh".
Oh, and on a final note, apparently I did quite well in the multiple choice section of the quiz! Who knows about the short answer, though. ^^;;
Fate is conspiring against me! So I went to the wedding, all prepared with my mini-tv and walkman (and a spare set of batteries for each), only to discover that Muskoka has no reception!!! >_< It was so tragic!
The Friday night I tested the mini-tv in the dock area, and even though I didn't get any AM stations at all (and therefore no MOJO 640) it looked like I at least got CBC on the tv. Then on Saturday at the reception place, around 6-something I tested the tv again and I saw Sutter and Tortorella giving interviews, so I figured I was fine. But then I turned on the tv again around 7pm and it was televised BINGO!!! Definitely NOT CBC. I almost cried.
Actually, the night before I had thought up a back up plan of having my brother text message me score updates, but then when I tried to message him, I got an error message saying something about how my system wasn't set up for messages!! ARGH again! Luckily lots of other friends had cell phones, so one of them, Jeff, sent the message to my brother for me, and received the updates for me as well.
So I was going through dinner with only text message updates, when one of the guys at the table mentioned that the tv in the games room had Bell Express Vu. SCORE!!! So as soon as the dinne, cake cutting, and first dance were all done, Jeff and I booted it over to the games room to watch the game. Finally some luck!
We caught the last half of the third period and stayed to watch until the bitter end. A bunch of other people popped in and out (there was about twenty people around for the second half of the first OT), but only Jeff, myself, and a guy named Will were around to see the depressing end of Calgary's hopes to win the Stanley Cup in Calgary.
As soon as the game was over we hurried back to the wedding. Everything was basically wrapping up, but I did manage to make it for the last dance, during which Alan tried to console me about the loss. =P
So in terms of being able to watch the game, things worked out not too bad in the end. I did feel a little bit guilty though, when I was wishing the bride, Bettina, good night and congratulations, and she said "Sorry about the game." ^^;; In my head, I was thinking, "Uh oh. Caught!" But if given a second chance, I would probably do things the exact same way. I wouldn't skip out on the wedding, because it was a lot of fun, but I also wouldn't stick around for the dance instead of watching the game. I guess I'm pretty lucky, all in all, it was one of those rare occasions where I basically got to have my cake and eat it too.
C'mon Calgary! Can you imagine what mania a win at home would be like? I really hope they do it! ^_^ Plus then we would have Phil back for our class on Monday! =P
Anyway, I've decided I'm going to discretely listen to a walkman during the dinner, and I'll bring the tv too, and skip the dance. Sorry Bettina and Ken, but Calgary could win the Stanley Cup here!!!
Woohoo!! I really wasn't sure the Flames would have it in them to win tonight! Go Flames!
